1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a messaging system and, more particularly, to a messaging system which causes notification alerts to be automatically sent to one or more destinations during predetermined conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Message processing systems have been in widespread use for many years. These systems, such as a voice messaging system, facsimile servers and other multimedia messaging systems, are commonly used as message sending, receiving and storing tools. For example, voice messaging systems, commonly known as voice mail systems are configured in such systems that each user is assigned a mailbox wherein messages sent to the user are saved. The recipient of a message, upon accessing the voice mail system, may retrieve messages from his or her mailbox.
Typically, such systems allow a user to store only a certain predefined number of messages, occupy only a predetermined amount of storage space on the voice mail system or limit the amount of message time to a predetermined number of minutes. If the calls to a particular user exceed the allotted limits, the message system is, generally programmed to prevent further storage of any additional messages to the user""s mailbox. Such limits protect against a single mailbox user""s attempt to use more than their share of the system. In addition, the limits protect against so-called hackers that could call voice mail systems and leave lengthy messages or many small messages until the system""s storage is depleted.
Generally, once a mailbox is full, subsequent callers are informed of the full mailbox condition, but are not allowed to record and save messages to the user. Furthermore, all subsequent callers are denied the opportunity to leave messages until the user deletes one or more messages from the mailbox so that storage space is once again available for new messages. Thus, a danger exists that the mailbox will become full at precisely the time the user most requires the system""s message storing capabilities, for example, during a time when the user is too busy to answer telephone calls or is away from a phone, but is relying on the system to store messages during that time.
Unfortunately, in many cases, callers not only are not allowed to save messages in such a situation, but they also may have no other means of contacting the user. In such a case, the user may not even be aware of potentially important messages not being saved or accepted by the system because the user""s mailbox is full. Furthermore, the user has no way of knowing that the mailbox is full until the user accesses the messaging system to check for new messages. It is only then that the user is notified and learns of the full mailbox condition, by which time many callers may have been turned away.
What is needed, therefore, is a system that allows the messaging system to automatically notify the user, through a variety of different methods, that the user""s mailbox is full and therefore no longer accepting messages.
The present invention relates to a system and method for a messaging system for automatically enabling the system to notify a user that his or her mailbox is full. The messaging system includes one or more mailboxes to receive and store messages from callers. A capacity calculator is used to determine whether the messages stored in the mailbox exceed the amount of storage space allotted to the user. A message transmittal unit is used for enabling one or more notification alerts to be generated in response to the capacity calculator determining that the amount of space occupied by the messages meets or exceeds a predetermined allocated amount of storage space. An alert table may also be used to store one or more contact numbers and other information through which the user may be contacted.